Chess match: OSU's Herman vs. Michigan State's Narduzzi

Saturday night Ohio State will play for a Big Ten championship against Michigan State and a chance to go to the national title game. It will be up to 38-year-old Tom Herman to make sure Ohio State's offense has the answers for the Michigan State defense. Pat Narduzzi, Dantonio's right-hand man, runs the Spartan defense and has a Youngstown-strong confidence about himself.

When college football coaches scour the country for the best assistant coaches, they won't find many better than one Mark Dantonio has. Nor one that Urban Meyer has. Saturday night Ohio State will play for a Big Ten championship against Michigan State and a chance to go to the national title game.

It will be up to 38-year-old Tom Herman to make sure Ohio State's offense has the answers for the Michigan State defense. Pat Narduzzi, Dantonio's right-hand man, runs the Spartan defense and has a Youngstown-strong confidence about himself.

Narduzzi is no stranger to Ohio football. His father, Bill, was the head coach at Youngstown State where he played as a true freshman. When his father was fired and replaced by Jim Tressel, Pat transferred to Rhode Island.

Dantonio was one of the assistant coaches on Tressel's staff in 1986. He remembered watching Narduzzi work out in the spring at Youngstown State.

While Dantonio has grown into a major college football head coach, Narduzzi probably isn't far behind.

Ohio State's explosive offense knows Narduzzi's defense will be a handful in Saturday night's Big Ten Championship Game. Meyer, though, has his brightest coach in charge of playing chess against Narduzzi.

Herman, at 38, is nine years younger than Narduzzi. Herman, a member of Mensa and an honors graduate from Cal Lutheran, has coordinated an Ohio State offense that's been every bit impressive as Michigan State's defense.

Something has to give with a Buckeye offense averaging 48 points a game going against a Spartan defense allowing just 11.8.

Part of Herman's job isn't just figuring out what Michigan State is doing, but to crawl inside the head of Narduzzi and anticipate what he may do Saturday night.

"I don't think it's any different this week than any others," Herman said. "At first you look at the ... what are they doing and then you try to figure out the why did they just do that."

Michigan State will play a press quarters coverage against Ohio State's receivers. It is a gambling coverage that defenses just don't play against OSU wide receivers Devin Smith and Corey Brown.

The press coverage allows Michigan State to get its safeties involved in the running game, which is important against a read-option offense like Ohio State's.

Essentially, Narduzzi is saying his cornerbacks are better than Ohio State's receivers.

"We have to try to take advantage of that and see it as an advantage for us," Herman said. "If you look at it as a hindrance, you're kind of waving the white flag a little bit. I see that as a very positive thing for us.

"The second part of that is you can't walk out there and throw 30 streak routes to win the game. ... If you think your 'O' is better than our 'X,' we're going to prove you wrong."

Page 2 of 2 - Narduzzi is one of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach. It's easy to see why. Narduzzi has masterminded the country's best defense this season, and probably the best defense the last two years.

That's a far cry from where Michigan State was under John L. Smith.

Dantonio, though, is a defensive mind. He can appreciate a good defensive coach better than most. It's one of the reasons why Narduzzi is the assistant head coach and paid $515,000 this year.

Herman shouldn't be taken lightly, either. Quarterback Braxton Miller has made remarkable progress from his first year working with Herman to this season. Some wonder how much longer before Herman is head coaching material.

He probably isn't ready just yet, but he has the kind of personality that makes people gravitate toward him.

Few fellow defensive coordinators in the Big Ten have been Herman's intellectual equal. Narduzzi, at least on the football field, is.

"It's miserable," Herman said, laughing about the challenge of matching wits with a coach like Narduzzi. "Have you watched the tape? They are really, really good. But yes, this is why you coach. These are the games your competitive nature can come out a little bit and say, 'I'm going to have my ... checkers, my pieces more prepared and play harder and longer, and with better technique and effort than yours.'"

For the Buckeyes to score the kind of points they have been, they're going to have to be all those things Saturday.

Dantonio was the defensive coordinator of Ohio State's defense when the Buckeyes shocked Miami in the national title game to win it all in 2002. The Buckeyes have a high-powered offense like the Hurricanes did that season. Dantonio got his pieces in the right spot and limited Miami's productivity.

The two offenses are very different. Miami's was pass-oriented. Ohio State favors the ground game.

"Two offenses that basically have marched through every different football team that they've experienced," Dantonio said. "We had a great defense back in 2002. I think we have an outstanding defense in 2013. It'll be about matchups."